The incident unfolded on a Vancouver street where two men agreed to meet after making arrangements online for the sale of an iPhone 15 for $1,200 CAD (around €815 or £700).

Once the money and the phone were exchanged, the customer realised that the phone was either fake or broken and the thief, when confronted, tried to run away.

Vancouver Police Department said the suspect then “hit some ice, gravity kicked in and he fell, causing the cash to spread out for the victim to retrieve”.

Temperatures in parts of Vancouver were as low as -14°C on the day of the incident.

The suspect got away — sans cash — and is still at large, local news website V.I.A. reports.